Five users of ReplayTV digital recorders can defend their commercial- skipping ways in a legal dispute between the entertainment industry and ReplayTV-maker Sonicblue, a judge ruled Friday.

Originally, entertainment companies including Paramount Pictures and Disney sued only Santa Clara's Sonicblue, not individual users of its digital video recorder. The plaintiffs say ReplayTV is committing "contributory and vicarious copyright infringement" by giving the owners of the device the means to fast forward through commercials and e-mail shows to one another.

But Craig Newmark of San Francisco and four others complained that the lawsuit indirectly accuses them of copyright infringement. They filed a suit asking that the judge specifically clear users of wrongdoing.

On Friday in Los Angeles, U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper denied the industry's request to throw out the owners' suit and instead consolidated both cases into one.

"The Entertainment Defendants have, with a great deal of specificity, accused the Newmark Plaintiffs (and other ReplayTV DVR owners) of infringing the Entertainment Defendants' copyrights," the judge wrote in her order.

Representatives for the entertainment industry did not return repeated calls Friday.

Newmark, who runs the popular Bay Area Web site Craig's List, said he is committed to participating in the Los Angeles court precedings.

"This means we're in for a long process. I'm told it will mean I'll be deposed," he said.

The owners of the devices will probably be asked in detail about which ReplayTV functions they use, and their devices could be examined to see how they have been used, said Robin Gross, intellectual property attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco.

The five owners and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is representing them in court, have brought the suit because they believe that using ReplayTV to skip commercials and record and share shows is legal according to the "fair use" provisions in the Copyright Act of 1976, which allow consumers to make copies of protected works for personal use and other specific purposes.

Sonicblue interim Chief Executive Officer Gregory Ballard echoed that sentiment in a statement released Friday, saying: "Our ReplayTV product is designed to give consumers control over how and when they enjoy their home entertainment, and we don't believe there is anything illegal about that."